BitMEX’s downtime on 13 March prompted by DDoS attack, not ‘hardware issues’

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bitmex downtime

BitMEX’s Chief Technology Officer [CTO], Samuel Reed, had provided a gist of the attack that hit the exchange platform on 13 March. Now, BitMEX’s Chief Executive Officer [CEO], Arthur Hayes, has come out to update the community with more info, stating that the BitMEX team will be addressing the issue soon. He elaborated on the same in a blog post, one that expanded on the two DDoS attacks that took place on 13 March. The CTO had previously noted that the exchange was under a botnet attack, the same it…

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MoneyGram Got Another $11M From Ripple to Use Its Cross-Border Payments Tech

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MoneyGram

Payments firm Ripple has given MoneyGram, a remittance firm, over $11 million in the past half year, according to regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The funds are broken up between two quarters, $2.4 million in Q3 and an additional $8.9 million in Q4, for a total of $11.3 million. The Q4 “financial benefit” as MoneyGram calls the sum, was not included in its Q4 revenue, reported as $323.7 million. Instead, it was accounted for a contra expense in its operating expense on the recommendation of the…

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Startup Tokenizes $2.2B in Commercial Real Estate Through Polymath

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real estate

Commercial real estate marketplace Red Swan has tokenized $2.2 billion in real estate through security token platform Polymath. According to Red Swan CEO Ed Nwokedi, $780 million of that is available to investors in pre-sale, while the company has another $4 billion in real estate in its tokenization pipeline. The $2.2 billion represents 16 different Class A commercial properties based in Austin and Houston, Texas, Brooklyn, N.Y., Oakland, Calif., and Ontario, Canada. Tokenization has struggled to transform the multitrillion-dollar real estate market as institutions hesitate to re-engineer back offices until…

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Dusk Network Plans to Tokenize Equity for Thousands of Dutch Companies

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Dusk Network

Security token platform Dusk Network says it will tokenize shares for thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Netherlands and the broader Benelux region. The Amsterdam-based company announced Thursday it has partnered with Firm24, one of the region’s largest shareholder registries, and will use blockchain for an automated infrastructure that could introduce market efficiencies and transform how shares, that are not publicly listed, are traded. Blockchain infrastructure provider LTO Network will also provide an interface between Dusk and Firm24 to link off-chain activities to the blockchain system and…

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5G router that can run bitcoin node

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Hub Exodus 5G

Electronics giant HTC has announced a new privacy-focused portable 5G blockchain router that enables users to run a full Bitcoin node. Due to arrive by mid-year, the Exodus 5G Hub follows on from the success of the Tawainese manufacturer’s Exodus 1 phones, which also have the ability to run nodes. The Hub provides 5G connectivity to all internet enabled devices and uses Zion Vault software to enable users to store Bitcoin, Ethereum (including ERC-20 and ERC-721 tokens), Binance Coin, Litecoin and Stellar. The software offers security features including social recovery…

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13,000 South Korean ATMs to enable Litecoin withdrawals

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ATM

Litecoin (LTC), the cryptocurrency created by Charlie Lee to be the “silver to Bitcoin’s gold” back in 2011, may be about to see more real-world use as more than 13,000 ATMs in South Korea enable LTC withdrawals directly to Korean won (KRW). The Litecoin Foundation said it has teamed up with the South Korean peer-to-peer crypto trading provider MeconCash to integrate litecoin into its M.Pay platform. Following the completion of the project, the integration is expected to allow litecoin to be exchanged to Korean won and withdrawn at thousands of…

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OKEx and Bitfinex Suffer a DDoS Attack

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DDoS Attack

In what’s turning into a series of crypto exchanges with issues this month, Bitfinex and OKEx have both reported a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. Just this morning (UTC time), Bitfinex took to Twitter to notify the user that they are investigating what seems to be a DDoS, sharing a status page for further updates on the matter. A DDoS attack is used to flood a website from many different sources in order to disrupt the service and make it unavailable. It’s like intentionally crowding a shop from all sides, not…

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Samsung adds ETH and BTC support on the upcoming smartphone

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Galaxy S20

This feature will be available to Samsung users in the US, Canada, South Korea, UK and Germany, among other countries. In 2019, Samsung had released Blockchain Keystore and effectively turned their phones into a cryptocurrency hardware wallet. Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone vendors, has officially confirmed that its new line of smartphones will be offering support for cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Describing the features of the upcoming Galaxy S20, Samsung stated that the new generation will include the firm’s proprietary app, which allows users to store private keys for…

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Cardano (ADA) makes major changes to its node with crucial update

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Cardano

Blockchain platform Cardano have announced the release of a major update to its architecture. The update is made up of the Cardano Node and also includes Cardano Explorer Backend with Web API. According to an extensive post, Cardano communications director Tim Harrison highlighted the features of the upgrade. Cardano have been working on the upgrade for the past 18 months and it is expected to be a pre-cursor for upcoming releases of Shelley and Goguen. The updates are expected to make it easier for third-party developers and enterprise adoption. Changes…

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Avril Group to use blockchain to track eggs

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vejce blockchain

French agribusiness Avril Group became the latest to team up with IBM Blockchain to apply blockchain technology to trace its “Matines Eggs” range from the farms to the consumers. The tracking will be done through Cloud network IBM Food Trust solution, which is based on Blockchain Hyperledger technology. Avril Group is the French market leader in the vegetable oil and protein industry, as well as the owner of the leading fresh egg and oil brands, Matines and Lesieur, among others. It has operations in 22 countries. The hens that lay…

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Bitcoin (BTC) surpasses 500,000,000 transactions

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Bitcoin Transaction Count

According to data provided by on-chain research firm Glassnode, Bitcoin (BTC) has just reached a major milestone by recording more than 500 mln transactions. The fact that Bitcoin has added more than 100 mln transactions since April 2019 flies in the face of crypto critics who keep parroting that no one uses it. Rapid transaction growth Bitcoin reached its highest number of confirmed daily transactions on Apr. 23, 2019. More than 439,000 of them were recorded on the Bitcoin network on that day. In the past 24 hours, BTC logged…

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Coinbase exchange is set to surpass 1 million Bitcoin (BTC) held in cold storage

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Bitcoin Cold Storage

Unlike the trading volume that is an easy-to-fake metrics, as the widely circulated Bitwise report from last year found that 95% of reported volume on unregulated exchanges is “fake,” cold storage data provides a better picture. This data comes from analysis of on-chain transfers and though not all cold wallet addresses can likely be identified with accuracy, these numbers are quite difficult to fake. Coinbase Beats Every Exchange Now, as per the data provided by Chain.info, Coinbase is leading among the exchanges with the largest amount of Bitcoin in their…

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It’s never been harder to mine Bitcoin

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Bitcoin hash rate (1-day moving average) versus price Source Glassnode

The mean hash rate of the Bitcoin (BTC) network has hit new all-time highs to mark the cryptocurrency’s latest technical achievement, fresh data suggests. Compiled by monitoring resource Glassnode, a new analysis of Bitcoin’s historical hash rate shows that on Jan. 7, the mean value reached 119 quintillion hashes per second — its best ever at the time. Consensus on BTC hash rate record Hash rate refers to the amount of computing power miners are using to validate the Bitcoin blockchain. The more power, the more notionally secure the blockchain…

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BitFury partners with UN

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UN forrest

Blockchain development firm Bitfury is set to partner with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on a project to conserve and increase Kazakhstan’s forestland. As the Astana Times reported on Jan. 14, the project aims to help the country to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 15% over the coming decade to meet its commitments in the 2016 Paris Agreement. Offsetting Bifury’s carbon footprint Bitfury and the UNDP are poised to sign an agreement later this month with the Kazakh Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources to create a…

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Nike to Tokenize Footwear on Ethereum Blockchain Network

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Nike shoes

Nike intends to use the Ethereum blockchain network to generate a unique digital asset for limited edition shoes. It got a patent to tokenize footwear on the Ethereum blockchain network. Nike is responsible for the design, development, marketing, and sale of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services for athletes. The Company’s operating segments include North America, Europe, Japan, China, and Emerging Markets. Its brand portfolio includes NIKE, Jordan, Hurley, and Converse brands. Nike to Use Ethereum Blockchain Network (ERC 721 Token) Nike intended to generate unique IDs and create ERC…

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